The Breitling Watch Source Forums

vBulletin is the current leader in terms of paid forum software, but it requires an upfront cost, and yearly payments for updating (which is necessary to prevent hacking). phpBB3 is the current leader of the free forum software available, and is considered to be just as feature-rich as vbulletin. However, phpbb has had a history of being hacked and problems as well, but that was with phpBB2... this new phpBB3 is completely re-built from the ground up.

Currently we run phpBB2, which is completely different than phpBB3, which is the new software. I only want to do this database migration once, but I am leaning towards vBulletin for its perceived increased security, and that almost all of the big forums use it.

What do you guys think?

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

To be honest Admin, my only concern is that it's as easy to use and navigate as phpBB2. There are some fora out there that I find truly horrible to navigate. For example, there is one forum devoted to a certain watch brand with Italian connections that I just hate browsing!

Whatever you choose Admin, I'm sure it'll be in the best interest of the site. We all know you do an absolutely fantastic job here.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

D8! Yeah there is no way I'm going to use network54 for my forum, haha... both Phpbb and vBulletin are very similar in terms of looks and functionality. Both of the new upgrades would include "quick reply" and also allow uploading of photos directly.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

i dont wanna sound as a fanboy again but phpbb 3 is really secure...

+ easy to update from 2.xxx to 3 and from 3 to 3.0.x
+ the admin part is hugely better then this one...
+ its faster
+ everything almost the same
+ ...
i wrote a lot of things in an older thread...

+ it's FREE

vbulliten is also very good but as you mentioned not free.

I would say give phpbb 3 a try if has to much disadvantages skip to "v" the installation phpbb 3 is believe me a walk in the park ( you can leave this version and put the 3 against it if there would be troubles.... )

Thanks for your input Oester.. I have installed phpbb3 a few times and do find it very feature rich. The administration was a bit more complex at first, but I have gotten the hang of it mostly now.

vBulletin does seem easier to administor from using the demo, but I do not know for sure as I have not actually used it before.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

All of my car/motorcycle forums are vBulletin, it's good stuff

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Have to agree with all of that.

I would lean towards phpbb3 for two reasons:

1) it's more cost effective for you
2) it's not simply an upgrade, it really is a complete rework

I don't think that it's a fundamentally better solution, but it is more cost effective.

I vote for vBulletin. From my experience being a Mod or Admin on several boards I think it is the best route to go.

In my past life I was a IT project manager and do have some experience in implementation, why don't you try the software upgrade that you feel will work close to 100% for the forum and that you know how to use well. Call it a test Run for a period of time, if you then see that it is not working to your specs then replace it with the one that costs $$$. Just my opinion.

First of all, how come i never saw this topic under the "View posts since last visit".

Allrighty...my opinion about forum software.

First, my advice would be vBulletin. Why vBulletin?
I work for years now with different forum software and at the end i got stuck with vBulletin. Ok, you have to pay, but don't forget the support you get for it. vBulletin special enforcements (:)) will look at your problem when you place your ploblem in the members area. If it is not fixable trough forum, they will login to your server.
Also there are way to many mods available for your forum which most of the time are only available for paying members. Very cool and very usable mods. And with this great growing community you always can pay the upcoming upgrades

Why not phpBB3? I don't like the admin panel of it and allthough there is support, most of the time you get an unsattisfied answer. If you are technical enough there is no problem for you to fix your problem, but the main reason i do not advice this forum is because it is build up from the beginning like you said. EVERY software ever made has holes in it. And if it is true that this piece of software has been rebuild from the ground, i know for sure this version has more holes in it then the latest version op phpBB2.

The most big sites run vBulletin. And you know and i know and everyone know that BS can become a big forum. I like the spirit here.

But hey, that is only my opinion

Good luck with your choice. You can always PM me for help if you may need it for vBulletin.

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Breitling Crosswind Black Dial (Custom project status: On Hold)

I posted a question on the vbulletin forum asking for help about whether or not the product is for me, and I did not really get a lot of replies saying that it would be a good choice... they were sort of wishy washy. One guy said the admin cp is more complicated, and another guy said that based on the size of our forum migrating to another platform might not be worth it.

The bottom line is, its not cheap, and adds a recurring cost, so I need to be sure before I just up and buy it.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

If you feel happy with phpBB, then why should you change? I mean, you have to work with it and all depends from your skills with the forum. vBulletin has a complicated admin panel and i takes some times to get it, but when you are used to it, you don't want to change it anymore.

If you are happy with phpBB and their conditions, don't change.


Still, if you want help with both of the forums, like get some mods running, i am happy to help.

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Breitling Crosswind Black Dial (Custom project status: On Hold)

I do appreciate the offer of help. If I need it I'll let you know

I'm not unhappy with phpBB2.. but phpBB3 is much more complex and I know it has nearly all the features that people are looking for. The thing is... vBulletin also has all the features, and it is proven and been around longer. Also, maybe its way better than phpBB3 and I just don't realize it yet because I have not experienced it.

The thing is, vBulletin has been around a long time, when phpBB2 was being compared to it.. and phpBB2 doesn't hold a candle to it. However, phpBB3 is now here, and maybe its comparable? Maybe not?

Part of the reason all the big boards use vBulletin is because these boards have been around for a while, and the only good choice at the time was to use vBulletin and now that they've built their forum on vB, there is no reason to change.

If vBulletin is so good that it will blow me away.. I want to know! And if it is, I don't mind spending the cashola on it.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com